Image: jeanbaptisteparis | Flickr

Six months ago today, our church made our biggest transition in a quarter century.

After being the lead pastor for 25 years, I stepped aside so that Gary Garcia (the youth pastor who has been with me for that entire time) could take my position, while I became the teaching pastor. ...

Image: Chris | Flickr

There are two different types of churches, organizationally.

Static and dynamic.

As we saw in a previous article, Why Most Small Churches Don’t Use (Or Need) An Organizational Chart, the smaller the church, the less necessary it is to use a static organizational system.

Static ...

Image: Michael Kappel | https://www.flickr.com/photos/m-i-k-e/6841945722/

Does your small church have an Organizational (Org) Chart?

If you don’t, relax. You probably don’t need one.

If you do, brace yourself. You may want to get rid of it because they tend not to work in small churches like they work in large churches. In fact, some of ...

Image: Dan Moyle | Flickr

Churches have to do more ministry with less money.

That’s becoming truer with every passing year, and it will increase for at least another generation.

For example, 15 years ago, the church I serve was smaller and less healthy than it is right now. By every indication of ...

Image: Sentinelle del mattino International | Flickr

This summer, in county fairs all over America, people will flock to see tribute bands.

With names like Unforgettable Fire (U2), The Fab Four (Beatles), Heartache Tonight (Eagles), and Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd), they can give us a fun evening, seeing a band that looks and plays ...

Image: Zach Dischner | Flickr

Does God’s vision for our life, church and ministry have to be big to be real?

I keep hearing that it does. Sayings like “if your vision isn’t big enough to scare you, it’s not from God” have been popular for quite some time now. Apparently we’re ...

Image: From cover of Small Giants, by Bo Burlingham

Better churches become bigger churches. Right?

Maybe not.

That’s been the rule of thumb for businesses, too. And it’s no more true there than it is for us.

As it turns out, constant growth doesn’t work for the majority of churches or businesses. Yet they can still ...

Image: Sergio Boscaino | Flickr

The Sunday morning pass-the-plate offering has always been a reliable predictor of the commitment level of church members.

Long before they started leaving – often before many started complaining – people would express their dissatisfaction with a church by stopping ...

Image: Bert Kaufman | Flickr

A church of 50 people needs to be pastored like a church of 50 people.

You can’t act like a church of 500. Or even 100. The systems, methods and relationship dynamics simply won’t fit.

So how can a church grow, either in its size or effectiveness, if we’re only ...